


Boxer's Fracture

by Thatoneloser_kid



Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: F/F, High School AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-01
Updated: 2016-08-01
Packaged: 2018-07-28 15:00:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7645786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thatoneloser_kid/pseuds/Thatoneloser_kid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Erin get cornered by a few boys at school, Holtzmann is there to stick up for her (High school AU)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Boxer's Fracture

**Author's Note:**

> if you have any prompts send me them on tumblr : ) Thatoneloser-kid

Honestly, Erin knew it was only a matter of time before she was cornered by Mikey and his friends.

 

She had seen them cheat, stealing the answered to the test from the teacher desk, and, really, what was she suppose to do? Let them get a better grade than her even though she worked her ass off studying? No way.

 

They cornered her between classes, at her locker, Mikey scowling at her while his two friends watched off to the side like cheerleaders.

 

“Because of you we have failed that class and now need to come back to summer school to graduate.” Mikey growled.

 

“It’s you’re own fault, maybe if you studied you wouldn’t have had to cheat.”

 

“Listen-“

 

"Hey!" A voice yelled and everyone's heads snapped in the direction it came from. 

 

Erin expected a teacher to be standing there, or Abby, or even any other one of Mikey's friends. What she didn't expect was to see someone she had never seen before. A girl, blonde, dressed in an old, faded NASA tee, a black and red plaid shirt that was definitely a size or two too big for her, a pair of tattered, torn black jeans and a pair of combat boots that were definitely on their last legs. 

 

But her out there, at least for this school, sense of style wasn't what caught Erin's attention first, it was the pair of what looked like old motorcycle goggles resting on her head. 

 

She must have been new, you definitely remember that strange and... _pretty_. 

 

"How about you pick on someone your own size?" The girl snapped and, okay, that was a little strange to say because Erin actually towered over two of the three boys and was just a fraction taller than Mikey. 

 

"Like you, you mean?" 

 

The girl stalled, she obviously hadn't thought this one through, and Erin honestly thought she was about to back down and leave. But after a thoughtful few seconds, and a quick glance at Erin, she squared her shoulders. 

 

"I suppose,"

 

Mikey laughed and shook his head. "Piss off, goggles, this is between us and Gilbert."

 

"Oh, wow, goggles? How clever of you, pointing out something I'm _wearing_. I didn't think Homo ergasters could have a thought more complex that 'me man, me fight'." The girl quipped in a sarcastic voice, causing Erin's lips to hook up into a little smile as she tried her best not to laugh. 

 

The girl noticed her smile, causing a little grin to pull on her lips. 

 

Mikey glanced at his friends for some kind of explanation on what the girl had just said but his friends just shrugged. Mikey turned back to the girl with a scowl. "Oh, you think you're funny?" 

 

"My nan tells me I am, yes."

 

"Gay jokes ain't funny,"

 

"Aw, buddy, no," The girl sighed, sounding almost disappointed as she moved closer to them, close enough that she could reach out and grab Erin if needs be. "Let's go, Erin."

 

The sound of her name coming from this strangers lips made her frown, was this girl new?

 

Erin's feet moved before she had conscious told them too, moving toward the girl who was looking at her reassuringly, telling her she could trust her, and Erin did. 

 

Before she could move two steps the boys hand slammed into the locker, his arm blocking her path. 

 

"She ain't going nowhere."

 

"Yeah, that's the point. She ain't going nowhere, she's going somewhere, with me." The boy frowned, obviously not understanding the premise of double negatives, but his confusion morphed into anger when the girl shoved him away, grabbing onto Erin's arm and pulling her closer. 

 

"This is none of your business, loser." The boy snapped, slamming his hand against the locker again, narrowly missing Erin's face as he done so. 

 

Before Erin could blink or stop it from happening the girl had shoved the large boy backwards, harder this time, her right arm was winding back before swinging forward, hard and fast, to connect with the boys nose. 

 

The boy stumbled backwards, stunned from the pain of a potential broken nose, and the girl hissed in pain. 

 

"Holy shiitake mushrooms," she hissed, shaking her hand. "That hurts _a lot_ more then movies would have you believe."

 

"We should go," Erin whispered after she recovered from the initial shock, quickly grabbing the girl by her bicep and jogging away from the group of boys, pulled the girl into the closest empty classroom, hearing Mikey yell that this wasn't over just before the door closed behind them. "You shouldn't have hit him, you could have hurt yourself."

 

"And he shouldn't've been intimidated a woman, looks like we were all doing things we shouldn't've." The girl said with a shrug, giving Erin a smile. "And I'm okay."

 

"Who are you?" Erin questioned curiously and the girl smiled widely.

 

"Holtzmann," she held out her injured hand but Erin didn't shake it, instead she took it into her own and surveyed it for any serious damage. 

 

"I think we should take you to the emergency room, just to be sure." Erin said softly, lifting her head to look at Holtzmann. "I don't know if it is broken. That boys nose, however, probably is."

 

"He deserved that. What kind of person corners someone else? Especially in a group," Holtzmann tutted, shaking her head in disbelief. 

 

"I know," Erin hummed, nudging her head in the direction of the exit. "Let's go the the emergency room, hm?"

 

‘You don’t have to, I’m sure I will be good to get the bus.” Holtzmann assured.

 

“It’s the least I can do, I mean you did just defend my honour.” Erin shrugged, almost shyly, giving Holtzmann a hopeful smile.

 

“Okay, sure.” Holtzmann agreed.

 

“Your hand is swollen,” Erin commented with a confused little frown. “Aren’t you in pain?”

 

“Oh, yeah. I am I so much pain.” Holtzmann said nonchalantly, “But you can show weakness in front of a pretty girl.”

 

Erin smiled shyly at that, tucking her hair behind her ear, which made Holtzmann grin. ‘We should go before the principal comes looking for you.”

 

Holtzmann nodded, following Erin out of the room and quickly to her car.

 

“Are you new?” Erin asked, glancing at Holtzmann as she pulled out of the student parking lot.

 

“Nah, I’m the grade bellow you.” Holtzmann explained, “We’ve been at the same school for the past three years.” She added, waving her hand dismissively when Erin looked surprised. “To be fair, I rarely leave the lab, the physics teacher is friends with my ‘rents.”

 

“I thought I would have still seen you, though.” Erin frowned. “And I would have remembered you.”

 

“Is that right?” Holtzmann smiled widely.

 

“You have a very… _different_ style from everyone else.”

 

“That’s the nicest way anyone has said I dress like a weirdo.” Holtzmann said, and Erin was about to defend herself but she noticed the teasing smile on the girls face.

 

“I didn’t mean that, I like your style.”

 

“Why, thank you.” Holtzmann gave her shirt a little tug with her non-injured hand.

 

When they reached the emergency room Erin took a seat toward the front while Holtzmann signed herself in. Erin watched the girl curiously as she spoke to the woman at the desk, she seemed to know the woman as she laughed and smiled at whatever she was saying.

 

“It shouldn’t be to long,” Holtzmann said, taking a seat beside Erin. “You don’t have to wait with me.”

 

“Do you want me to leave?”

 

“‘Course not."

 

“Then I don’t mind staying.”

 

After about an hour of waiting, and sharing random facts about each other, one of the nurses came out, scanning the room, doing a double take when she noticed Holtzmann. “Holtzmann, it has been a while since I’ve seen you here. I thought you were learning from your mistakes.”

 

“Hey, Helen, how are the kids?” Holtzmann asked with a wide smile, looking sheepish when Helen gave her an unimpressed look. “I _do_ learn from my mistakes, I just make a lot of mistakes.”

 

“Mhm,” Helen hummed. “Five minutes while I go — who am I kidding? You’ve been here enough to know the score.”

 

“See you soon,” Holtzmann nodded once.

 

“You come here often?” Erin asked, arching her eyebrows at Holtzmann.

 

A little grin pulled onto Holtzmann’s face as she turned to Erin. “Jeez, Gilbert, hitting on an injured woman in an emergency room, classy.”

 

“I wasn’t — you know what I mean.”

 

A few minutes later Helen peeked out of the door, motioning for Holtzmann and Erin to follow her.

 

“So, what is it this time?” Helen asked as they took a seat in one of the free rooms. “Chemical burn, severed finger, glass in your eye?”

 

“Nah, I learned from the last time,” Holtzmannn assured, patting the goggles on her head.

 

“You’ve been here for all of those things?” Erin asked incredulously.

 

“It wasn’t a severed finger, it was just pretty bad cut.”

 

“Holtzmann here has paid at least six months of my salary this year alone.” Helen said. “I seen her at least once every two weeks during the summer.”

 

“What the heck? How?”

 

“We will talk later,” Holtzmann promised, “I think I broke my hand.”

 

Erin gave her a look, wondering why she hadn’t told her that she thought her hand may be broken.

 

“What did you do?” Helen asked, taking Holtzmann’s hand into her own and eyeing the swollen,discoloured knuckles.

 

“Punched something…” Holtzmann answered unsurely, smiling sheepishly when Helen looked at her in disbelief.

 

“Make a fist for me?” 

 

Holtzmann obliged, wincing as she curled her fingers into her palm. Helen nodded, eyeing the misaligned knuckle and the way the pinking seemed to lean more toward the thumb than it probably should. “Okay, I’m going to have to get this x-rayed. Your girlfriend is going to have to wait here.”

 

“Oh, she’s not- Erin is just a friend from school.”

 

“Okay, she still has to wait here, though.”

 

Holtzmann came back about ten minutes later, talking about x-rays.

 

“Did you know x-rays helped us find the structure of DNA?”

 

Erin did but she let Holtzmann talk, which moved from how they discovered it to how it was a woman, Rosalind Franklin, who discovered it not the half baked scientist, James Watson and Francis Crick, who took credit and the noble prize for it.

 

“You have what is called a boxers fracture,” Helen announced as she came in, offering Holtzmann the X-ray before she could even get the words out to ask. “We are going to have to put a splint on it for about a month. It, thankfully, isn’t to bad.”

 

Holtzmann nodded, holding the X-ray up to the light, staring at it curiously.

 

“Have you had pain medication?” Helen asked and Erin answered when Holtzmann was to engrossed in her X-ray to answer.

 

“She hasn’t,”

 

“How are you not in pain, you _fractured your finger?_ ”

 

“I am,” Holtzmann shrugged, holding up her X-ray. “Can I keep this?”

 

“Sure, kid.” Helen nodded, heading to one of the cabinets to get a splint. 

 

“You owe me an explanation as to why you’re here often enough that the nurse knows you like a close friend.”

 

“Yes, ma’am.” Holtzmann gave Erin a two finger salute, offering her hand Helen for her to set up the splint.

 

Helen fixed Holtzmann’s splint and warned her to be careful before leading them out of the room.

 

“What do you do that ends with you the emergency room so often?” Erin asked when they settled into her car, looking at Holtzmann with worry. “Are your parents, or someone, hurting you?”

 

“No, it’s nothing like that. I like to do experiments at home, a lot of them don’t end the way I would have thought so I get hurt.”

 

“That’s not okay.” Erin snapped. “Don’t your parents have something to say about that.”

 

“My dad is away every day but two weekends a month, and my mom is a away two weeks out of the month, they don’t even know.” Holtzmann shrugged.

 

“Who looks after you?” Erin frowned.

 

“I’m seventeen, I can look after myself.” Holtzmann said, smiling when Erin arched an eyebrow at her. “Live at my nan’s, but I spend most of the day chilling at my place.”

 

“Why are they away so often?” Erin asked unsurely, buckling herself in, motioning to Holtzmann to do the same.

 

“Moms a nuclear physicist with NASA, dads a engineering lecturer at MIT. NASA is in Houston, MIT is in Massachusetts.”

 

“Oh,” Erin nodded slowly, not entirely sure what to do with that information. “Where do you live? I will drive you home.”

 

Holtzmann looked unsure all of a sudden. “You don’t- I can catch the bus home.”

 

“I don’t mind, Holtzmann.”

 

“Okay,” Holtzmann sighed, “But don’t judge, okay?”

 

“Come on, I won’t.” Erin rolled her eyes.

 

“Scarsdale,” Holtzmann all but whispered.

 

“Scarsdale? In Westchester county?” Erin gaped when Holtzmann nodded unsurely. “You live in _Scarsdale?”_

 

“That was a very judgey way of not judging me.”

 

“No, I wasn’t- I just-“ Erin shook her head. “Sorry. I mean your mom is a _rocket scientist_ and your dad is a teacher at MIT, I shouldn’t be surprised that you live in the suburbs.”

 

“Look, it’s no big deal, okay? I will just walk.”

 

“No, Holtzmann, I’m sorry.” Erin rushed to say when Holtzmann when to open the car door. “I wasn’t judging you, I was surprised, when you think of suburbs like Scarsdale you think of snooty middle aged white women not… you.” Erin frowned at her choice of words. “That sounded awful, I didn’t mean…”

 

“No, no.” Holtzmann shook her head, a soft smile on her face. “That’s actually the nicest thing anyone’s every said to me.”

 

Erin smiled, “So can I drive you home?”

 

“Yeah, I suppose. I mean, I usually have a girl buy me dinner first but sure.” Holtzmann grinned at the blush on Erin’s cheeks. “I will direct you where to go.”

 

Erin knew immediately when they hit Scarsdale, the houses became larger, the gardens were nicer and it was just white people _everywhere._

 

“Yeah, it’s messed up.” Holtzmann agreed when Erin mentioned the lack of diversity around. “It boils down to the wage cap between whites and black people, honestly I bet there are black and hispanic people out there who work three times as hard doing the exact same job as the people who live here but they couldn’t even touch the prices of a place here. Plus, they get a lot of hassle. I remember when I was ten a black family moved in across the street, they moved out within a year because the people in the neighbourhood were giving them hassle.”

 

Holtzmann, it turned out, lived in a little gated community in the outskirts of Scarsdale, this just surprised Erin more as they rolled up the long driveway to one of the largest houses in the community. It was a beautiful house, three stories, a dark brick colour.

 

“You wanna come in?” Holtzmann asked when they stopped outside the door. “I’m sure I have left over pizza in the fridge.”

 

Erin nodded slowly. “Yeah, that sounds nice.”

 

They both got out of the car, Holtzmann pulling out her phone, holding it against the lock, which caused it to click opened.

 

“Made it myself,” Holtzmann said when Erin looked a little impressed. “Bluetooth, when any phone that has been connected to the lock is nearby it opens.”

 

“You _made_ it?”

 

“Well, my dad and I, yeah.” Holtzmann nodded, smiling when a large, fluffy Tibetan Mastiff came trotting out of the kitchen, its ears standing on end at the sight of Holtzmann. “Hello, Curie.”

 

“Curie?”

 

“It is exactly what you think,” Holtzmann smiled, motioning toward the kitchen. “Take a seat.”

 

Erin slid onto one of the stools at the breakfast isle just as a black cat sauntered along the surface over to her, brushing its head against her hand when Erin held it out toward him.

 

“That’s Loki,”

 

“The avengers?” 

 

“I suppose. More the Norse god of mischief. He is always getting up to no good.” Holtzmann explained as Erin scratched at the back of the cats ear. She set a plate with a slice of pizza and a soda in front of Erin, picking up Loki and setting him on the floor.

 

She opened the back door to allow the animals out before sitting down beside Erin.

 

Erin watched her, this was the first time since Erin had met her that she really got a chance to look at her. The first thing she noticed was the little scar over her left eyebrow, the second thing was the light blue of her eyes when she looked up at her. 

 

“What happened?” Erin asked, motioning toward Holtzmann’s eyebrow when she looked at her in confusion. “Your eyebrow, what happened?”

 

“Oh, one of my conical flasks exploded, had to get stitches.” Holtzmann shrugged. 

 

“You are very blasé about your safety, aren’t you?” 

 

“I just trust myself not to get to badly injured.” Holtzmann said, taking a bite of her pizza.

 

They finished off their pizza before moving to the front room, Curie curling up at Erin’s feet as Holtzmann turned on the TV, it immediately tuning into the science channel.

 

“I love this show,” Erin commented when she realised it was _1000 ways to die_ playing.

 

Holtzmann looked a little surprised as she smile. “Me too! Every time I mention this to anyone they look at me like I’m crazy.”

 

“ _Monsters inside me_ is on after,”

 

Holtzmann only smiled wider at that, falling back against the sofa as she slumped, her feet on the coffee table. “Love this channel.”

 

It turned out that the next four hours were packed with shows that both girls enjoyed, and more after that, too, but Erin realised she had to get home before her mom freaked about her being late.

 

“Can I give you my number?” Holtzmann asked as she walked Erin to her car, Curie at her heels and Loki standing at the top of the stairs. “That way you can text me once you get home?”

 

“Of course,” Erin handed Holtzmann her phone, allowing the girl to put in her number.

 

“Okay, I want to tell you something. I’ve had a few friends who dropped me as soon as they found out so I am going to be straight with you, or not I suppose.” Holtzmann fidgeted with the goggles she had moved to dangle around her neck. “I’m gay, one hundred percent into women.”

 

“Okay,” Erin hummed, accepting her phone from Holtzmann. “I will let you know once I’m home.”

 

“Wow, hang on, that’s it?” Holtzmann frowned in confusion at Erin, who was now in the drivers seat of the car.

 

“And I will let you know how my journey home was?” Erin offered unsurely.

 

“No, the gay though, no big deal?”

 

“Should it be?” Erin asked. “Do you want a high-five?”

 

“No, it’s just- I’m so used to people making a big deal out of it.”

 

“Do you want me to?”

 

“No, I actually prefer your reaction over everyone else.”

 

“Okay, then I will text you in a little while.”

 

Holtzmann nodded, closing the door for Erin. “Thank you for today,”

 

“Yeah, you too.”

 

Erin texted Holtzmann as soon as she was in her room (rolling her eyes when she saw Holtzmann had named herself ‘The Cute Blonde’ along with a microscope emoji), telling her that that was her home.

 

The Cute Blonde [21:12]: Srsly, thanks for being so cool abt the gay thing

 

Erin Gilbert : ) [21:13]: It honestly isn’t a big deal, Holtzmann.

[21:13] And /please/ look after your hand, you go lucky with it not being to bad.

 

The Cute Blonde [21:14]: Yes ma’am ;)

[21:14]: do u maybe wanna hang out again? There is this cool microbiology exhibition that I think u might like tomorrow

 

Erin Gilbert : ) [21:16]: Like a date?

 

The Cute Blonde [21:17]: jst because im gay u think im asking u on a date?

[21:17]: Also, yes, if u want it to be then 100% a date

[21:18]: does that mean ur gay? if u are accepting my date that is

 

Erin Gilbert [21:20]: I would like to go to the exhibition with you, as a date. Bisexual, I think, I don’t know. Gender isn’t really an issue to me.

 

The Cute Blonde [21:22]: cool awesome. i will pick u up at midday

 

Erin Gilbert : ) [21:24]: No problem. I really appreciate you sticking up for me today, Holtzmann, no one other than Abby has.

 

The Cute Blonde [21:26]: im not to happy about the circumstances bt im glad i had the opportunity to talk to u. ive been wanting to do it for a while, but a lot of people find me weird, so i figured u might’ve too

 

Erin Gilbert : )[21:28]: You are weird, but I promise you that’s not a bad thing. You will have to show me what if worth hurting yourself constantly, and if you can invent a wireless key system I can’t wait to see what else you’re capable of.

 

The Cute Blonde [21:30]: its a date, i will show my lab sometime

 

Erin Gilbert : ) [21:31]: Can’t wait. I’m going to go to bed now, but I can’t wait to go to the exhibit tomorrow.

 

The Cute Blonde [21:32]: me either. Night, gilbert.

 

Erin Gilbert : ) [21:33] Goodnight, Cute Blonde

 

Erin placed her phone on her charging dock, a dumb smile playing on her lips as she stripped off her clothes and changing into her pyjamas and slipping under her covers, holding the blanket to her mouth and grinning against it, her stomach fluttering at the prospect of seeing Holtzmann the following day.

 

 


End file.
